Employers in B.C. should prepare for increased accident risk and productivity loss, academic sleep expert warns
With a week left until British Columbia adopts a year-round daylight time zone, experts are calling out the impact it can have on workers.
Myriam Juda professor of sleep and circadian rhythms at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, B.C., says people’s circadian clock will feel it — and that matters more than most employers realize.
“If we had no circadian clock, it truly wouldn’t matter. But we have a circadian clock and we have a physiology. The circadian clock is a clock in our brain that ticks on a 24-hour cycle — it is an actual neurological clock,” she says.
Starting Nov. 1, B.C. will officially eliminate the twice-a-year time change and use Pacific Time (PT). That means the province will not turn back an hour this fall, and no changes to the clock will be made in March.
According to the government of B.C., the adoption was introduced as a way to improve public health and reduce seasonal disruptions. The change was met with 93 per cent support, and a 2019 public engagement survey of 223,272 people found many in support of adopting permanent Daylight Saving Time, according to the government report.
Juda says the effect might not be felt by everyone until spring when a hour of sleep will be lost. She was one of the many voices that opposed the change during the provincial consultation, because of health concerns.
Circadian rhythm and why it matters
For many, the obvious fix might seem straightforward — if the clocks change, just go to bed an hour earlier. While this reaction is understandable, Juda says it misses the point. The human body runs on a circadian clock, and that internal rhythm cannot simply be reset by adjusting a bedtime.
The circadian clock cycle runs on the light-to-dark pattern of the sun. So, when workers have to wake up an hour earlier due to the time shift, they are getting up an hour earlier physiologically.
“And even though you’re getting up earlier, most people have difficulty falling asleep earlier in the evening as well,” she says.
Juda points to research showing people living on the western edge of a time zone — where sunrise might come a bit later — tend to get about half an hour less sleep per night than those on the eastern edge.
“We would expect the same effect under permanent Daylight Saving Time — which is what B.C. is now doing,” she says.
Most people in B.C. — particularly those in Vancouver — live on the western side of the time zone, Judah says. With the change, people will get less sleep, leading to negative health effects.
“Cardiovascular diseases are more common if you don’t sleep enough. Strokes are more common. You even see this within time zones: people living west of a time zone have a higher probability of strokes, a higher probability of heart attacks, a higher likelihood of mental health concerns such as depression, and even elevated cancer rates,” she says.
Sleep loss and safety risks
While the change on Nov. 1 may not bring any feeling of immediate change, it could affect people in the long run.
Juda points out studies have consistently linked the spring transition — when clocks move forward and workers lose an hour of sleep — to spikes in accident rates, heart attacks, and strokes. The fall changes, where sleep is gained, does not carry the same risk.
However, under the new arrangement, the sun will not rise in parts of B.C. until 9 a.m. in December, meaning workers will commute in the dark and return home in the dark with little natural light exposure in between.
“People will naturally become more of a night owl than they’re supposed to be — and then they’re also expected to get up a whole hour earlier than under Standard Time,” she says.
“When you don’t sleep enough, you feel fatigued — and fatigue increases the risk of accidents, particularly for people in high-risk roles like construction workers, where the consequences can be severe.”
The Traffic Injury Research Foundation (TIRF) of Canada finds fatigue-related fatal crashes mostly happen between 3 a.m. and 9 a.m., and that the hour lost during the spring change can affect drivers like “jet lag,” taking a day or two to adjust.
Young workers such as teenagers are particularly affected, Juda notes. Children and teenagers’ circadian rhythms already naturally trend later — meaning they are fighting their biology to wake up early even before the clock shifts.
Productivity hit for employers
Beyond safety, Juda says sleep deprivation can also lead to productivity issues — especially when it comes to alertness.
Alertness follows a circadian rhythm, she says, peaking normally around mid-to-late afternoon and dropping at night.
“If you were forced to stay awake for three days without sleep, you would still have a circadian rhythm of alertness: you’d be naturally more fatigued at night and more alert during the day,” she adds.
Juda notes that people can be affected in different ways — with some being night owls and others early birds. Night owls tend to be more productive in the evening, around 5 or 6 p.m., while early birds peak earlier in the day.
What employers can do
With this change coming and bringing real risk, Juda says there are some ways employers can help workers prepare — especially in the spring, where it will be felt the most.
“If there’s no natural light outside and you have to go to an office, then SAD lamps are really helpful,” she says. “They’re often used for Seasonal Affective Disorder, but they’re very good in general for productivity and for helping advance your circadian rhythms so that you naturally wake up earlier in the morning, you’re not too fatigued when the alarm clock rings, and you also get tired earlier in the evening so that you get your seven to eight hours of sleep.”
She also recommends workers start about two weeks before any major time shift, gradually moving their bedtime and wake time earlier in the days leading up to it rather than having to go through the full change at once.
However, for industries where accidents are most serious, Juda says the bar needs to be higher.
“Workplaces should just be prepared — in terms of insurance, in terms of safety protocols. Be prepared that there will be an increased risk of accidents and health concerns, and plan for that accordingly,” she says.
